Antepenultimate Hour

Seattle was understandably upset by getting knocked off their own self-proclaimed pedestal last Sunday, but Arizona might have been even more disappointed. The Cardinals expected a 49er defeat, which would have forged a tie between the two teams for one of the wild card slots. The teams play each other on the final week of the season.

Arizona now faces the daunting task of winning all three remaining games, one of which is a date in Seattle, and hoping the 49ers lose either this week in Tampa Bay or the following week at home against Atlanta. Not exactly a remotely probable outcome. One more AZ loss and one more 49er win and it’s bye-bye Cardinals.

Fifteen teams have pretty much been eliminated from the playoffs as we head into the final three games of the 2013 season. Some still have flickering 22-things-have-to-happen scenarios that could miraculously ooze them into the postseason, but this coming weekend should put the official nail in their official coffins officially.

The NFC North is a donnybrook between three teams who rotate each week from looking awesome to looking like crap. The Lions still look like the favorite, but their coach is Jim Schwartz, so anything goofy is still in play.

The Eagles have won five straight games and look to be taking charge of the NFC East. They even look a bit formidable. The amazing performance of Nick Foles in relief of the tired act of Michael Vick reminds me somewhat of the 2008 Arizona Cardinals, when Kurt Warner relieved the tired act of Matt Leinart and pushed AZ all the way to the Super Bowl and a near victory over Pittsburgh.

Seattle fans are up in arms about a Colin Kaepernick commercial that portrays them as a disgusting mob of lunatics. I’m confused. I thought they liked being a disgusting mob of lunatics. Maybe it’s one of those things like when you look in the mirror and discover that the handsome fellow you thought you were you weren’t.

Over in the AFC, the playoff drama fizzed out a few weeks ago. The only spot left in the tournament is the sixth seed, with Baltimore and Miami duking it out with amazing 7-6 records. Color me bored on this one. It was far more interesting to see Peyton Manning win a cold weather game last Sunday and drop the cool act long enough to growl at his naysayers and suggest an anal insertion of their noggins as appropriate punishment. Go Peyton!

39 comments on “Antepenultimate Hour”

The Cowgurls are appearing to be the path of least resistance.
The Aints put 40 first downs on them, Broncos 34 and the Bears 33.
Contrast that to the Niners limiting the Seahags to 13 first downs and the Redskins to a measly 10.
In 9 out of 14 games the Cowgurls have given up more than 350 yds total offense with 4 games over 500 yds and 2 over 600 yds.
The winner of the NFC East will be the weakest playoff team in the NFC.

Per Maiocco the move to sign G Ryan Seymour was just meant to make it tougher for Petey and the Seahags
“This move does create some problems for Seattle. Center Max Unger left Sunday’s game against the 49ers with a strained pectoral. The Seahawks carry nine offensive linemen on their 53-man roster, and Seymour was their only offensive lineman on the practice squad. Teams need 10 offensive linemen to practice so starters or players at other positions are not pressed into duty on the scout team.”

That was the worst non-call of the day. How many things wrong? Let’s see… pass interference, hands to the face, DB never turned around, faceguarding, and if he pulled on the facebar at all (which I thought he did a little, at the time), a facemask personal foul. How even the blindest of zebras missed that one, I’ll never know.

There is a NFL Penalty database and Seattle ranks #2 behind the Team we play this week the Bucs for most peanlties called. The Seahags are flagged on average 8 times a game.
Total BS spin from Dick Sherman that the zebras cost them the game.
Seahags really do have a mindset that the officials will get tired of calling penalties and dragging the game out. Violate the rules throw a flag.http://www.nflpenalties.com/

Cody Wallace has become the starting center for the Steelers
with both of their other centers on the roster going to IR.
Wallace never made it with the Niners because he was always getting manhandled and “ragdolled” in practice.
That was the first time I heard “ragdolled’ used as a football verb and it sounds unpleasant if it’s happening to you.
Maybe he’s gotten stronger but this is the fifth team that Wallace has been on since the Niners cut him.

Glenn Dorsey has been a pleasant surprise and another smart addition by Baalke.
Dorsey has finally found his niche and is playing like the top five pick when he was first drafted out of LSU.
He has a great exuberant attitude that’s infectious and has fun playing football. He seems to be mentoring Jerod-Eddie and has made Tony a factor.
Dorsey is under contract through next season.http://www.49ers.com/video/videos/Micd_Up_Glenn_Dorsey/f9a36b0a-d00a-4ed8-ba86-44299a7ff2cb

13 games into the season it is safe to say that Goldson, Soap and RJF are not really missed by this defense as they collectively signed for $19.5 mil as UFA for this season.
Baalke has successfully retooled by drafting Eric Reid, signing FA Glenn Dorsey and giving practice squad player Tony Jerod-Eddie
a chance.
The Niner defense continues to be the strength of the team playing at a very high level.

Baalke wasted a 2nd rd pk (Tank) and 4th rounder (Lattimore) on two guys who won’t see the field this year. I guess Trent thinks we’re so good we don’t need any instant production from high draft picks. Just like Baalke did when selecting A.J. Jenkins. How’d that work out?

Even you can’t be this dense, Dennis. How is the defense doing so far, eh? Dorsey’s worked out very well, to the point that Ian Williams is an afterthought. Reid is 2x the cover guy that Golddigger was, and he doesn’t miss many tackles. They’ve weathered injuries to 1/2 their DBs with little adverse effect. Tank and Dial will be fully healthy next year, and will be able to make guys like Justin Smith ease his way out of here without missing a beat. Lattimore will be able to ease Gore’s load next year as he tries to reach 10,000 (if he doesn’t this year).

WR? Welllllll. That’s a diffferent kettle of fish. Look across the Bay for persistent shitty drafts. Baalke has made some misses, but he’s hit a lot more than you’ll ever dream of hitting. Well, you never seem to miss the floor. I’ll give you that.

If you were paying attention I already talked about it a couple of days ago.

Texas gets to feast on duck soup with McCoy’s little brother at QB with 1/4 of Colt’s arm strength. And you guys talk about noodle arms.
The Longhorns have lost their starting QB, starting RB, starting DT and their entire set of LBs to season ending injury.
Some of the alums expect Mack Brown to heal these guys and pull out victories. Tough crowd.

From Balls Deep Sports the All 22 from this past Sunday.
Gore ran through a two door garage door opening for his 51 yd jaunt.
Seahags were bitchin that VD was holding on that play but they bitch about everything.

On Frank Gore’s long run, just before the snap, I told my friend who was watching the game with me, I hate this formation. After the play was over I was saying, I love this formation. Of course, we high fived and laughed!

Kap needs to improve each week if the Niners are going to advance in the post season.
Consistency seems to be an issue that Kap needs to work on.

Kap does misfire on a lot of passes throwing high,passes that bounce and short passes too hot to handle.
That’s why it’s not all that suprising that Kap ranks 33rd out of 36 QBs in completion percaentage. Only Geno Smith, Case Keenum and Brandon Weeden ranked lower.

When asked about his accuracy Kap gave a boiler plate answer
“I’ve been doing a pretty good job with it. For the most part, I’ve been putting balls where I want to. Obviously, there’s always a few you want back.”

Although Kap’s answer wasn’t wrong it was complacent. I would’ve responded with “I’m trying to be more consistent and working to complete 100% of my passes.
Until that happens I’ll never be satisfied as there’s always room for improvement”.

There is a lot of room for improvement and the offense would march up and down the field if Kap improved to completing passes at a 65% clip.
If you are able to hit your receiver in stride with a well delivered accurate pass it can make all the difference in the world as opposed to the receiver having to go to the ground to catch the pass. Kap is fully capable and we have all seen some beautiful throws, throws looking like he’s dropping the ball into a bucket.

It will definitely not get easier and the pressure will continue to build on the QB position because that’s the nature of the beast.

Bullitt, I’m sure you can do a better job than Kappy, just by the force of these blog posts. How he answers questions to the media has 0 relevance on how he performs on the field. Why you are so worried about his comportment in this area of his career is bizarre. There are countless athletes who didn’t like or want to deal with the media. You don’t like his answers? Stop following him.

Montana should have lost his 3rd Super Bowl but for Browner’s drop in the end zone. Shit happens. Think Manning wants that one back from the playoffs last year? Or Favre in the NFC Champ game? Kappy, but for that last drive, was close to a SB victory of his own. He’s got hopefully a long career ahead of him, and a few more shots at a SB title. How he talks to the press is the least of my worries.

Funny how you choose to come over here to preach to me when there are quite a few of your constituents on your own blog
that think Kap could be handling his press conferences better.
When you think about it it’s pretty chickenshit on your part but hey that’s who you are sadly.
Also now you decide to lie again and say that I want McCoy as the QB instead of Kap??? Show me where I said that? I’m sure the usual BS spin will be forthcoming or your plug in excuse of “whatever”.

Holy guacamole! Anybody heard of Daniel McCullers? He is a NT from Tennessee. He is listed at anywhere from 6-6 to 6-8 and between 351 to 390 pounds! That is some serious size. I’ll need to see some highlights.

He’s a mountain of humanity but pretty raw and not that highly regarded. Last I saw he was day 2 draft pick.
Didn’t make All SEC first or second team.
On the other hand Michael Sam was SEC Defensive Co-player of the year along with CJ Mosley of Bama

Yeah, but they don’t act like assholes. I told them what I told you. I don’t really care how he deals with the media. He’s young, he was burned by some things, and maybe he’s been influenced by his HC. In the end it means nothing. You goiung to deny you said McCoy should be getting reps?

Now you profess to know what Kappy should say. What kind of egomaniac are you?

Hell of a game, but jesus, these guys are running out of ways to tackle people. That just about ices it. SD beats Manning. Where’s Dennis?

SD’s still in the playoff hunt. Crazy. Alex Smith is dancing in the streets right now. Denver has 2 roadies to close out the season, NE owns homefield cuz of their win over Denver. Losing the #1 seed would be one thing, dropping to 5 behind KC would be a disaster.

I just watched McCullers So Car game this year. He plays way too high but still holds his ground well. He got double teamed about 80% of the time and never gat pushed back more than a couple of yards. He redirected almost every play that came his way. He is slow getting off at the snap and slow in pursuit. He isn’t much of a play maker. But he is big. It was entertaining to watch somebody play that high and not get blown back. He is just too massive to move. He doesn’t look that fat, he’s just huge. Somebody might take him in the 3rd round because of the ‘huge’ potential but I see him as a 5th rounder, at best.

Whatev, pal. Carry on in your demented little world. The only thing obvious around here is you have no real cred and must resort to internet stalking. I feel bad for ya. Wish I could help, but I guess dogging me serves some purpose for your existence. You’re welcome.
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Gilbert Brown pretty much had that game, Bergs. Large and immovable. It worked for him. He was semi-athletic.

Gilbert Brown played lower and was immovable in the pros. If McCullers doesn’t play lower he’ll not play a single down in the pros. He’s not getting pushed back in college, that would change at the next level. Also, when watching him play he seems like a nice guy. I can see him knitting with Rosey Grier. That would really be something since Rosey is dead, but I think you get the point. D-linemen should not remind anybody of being nice guys when on the football field. Merlin Olsen was a nice guy but never looked like it on the field.